My Random Muses

RedMan

2006-11-10T12:25:00.000-08:00

I'm surprised at how much I miss him. He was always such an independent cat. Never around, always outside, somewhere. The last few month, though, I found myself making certain that he was inside every night, and giving him extra treats whenever he meowed for them. Lately, he's been underfoot contantly, meowing for treats frequently. I still find myself checking the top of the back deck steps, and the corner of the deck near my bedroom door where he liked to curl up.
I got used to him attacking, or smacking the other cats for no reason at all. He was the alpha cat, and he reminded the others of their place all the time. Seems when he came in, I was contantly yelling at him to cut it out, or leave this or that cat alone. It's a bit lonelier and quieter around here without him. He left an empty space that can never be filled.

A Rabbit's Winter Dream

2006-08-19T17:43:00.000-07:00

A Rabbit’s Winter Dreams

It's cozy here beneath the shed - my home for two years now.
I was born another place, not so far from here, naked, blind, and deaf. It wasn't long before soft fur clothed me; my eyes opened; my ears cleared; and I ventured from the burrow with my litter mates to romp in the fields and nibble the tender young grass. Soon I was wandering about alone, finding my own way, and enjoying the bounty of the warm summer.
The seasons change and pass so quickly. Spring is coming soon. I can smell it in the air, and feel the small temperature changes. The days are growing longer. I'm looking forward to leaving my burrow, enjoying the fresh grass, and - oh, the clover! the sweet, sweet clover. I'll find a mate, and raise a family. I'll watch them grow, and then leave to find their own destinies. I'll sleep in the warm sun, and drink the cool water from the stream.
But, for now, it's cozy beneath the shed.

Samantha

2006-07-25T10:17:00.000-07:00

Samantha

This tiny cat, a throw away,
Someone once loved, then left that day.
We do not know from where she came.
What kind of life? What was her name?

Left in a cage at the vet’s front gate,
Cold, alone, what was her fate?
With biting fleas and matted fur,
In fear, confused, still she could purr.

This tiny cat, no kitten she,
But ten or twelve years, more likely.
So poor in health and vision too,
I had my doubts they’d pull her through.

With loving care she did survive.
A testament to a cat’s nine lives.
I brought her home with me to stay.
We knew that it would be this way.

This tiny cat, a throw away,
That someone loved and left that day.
We do not know from where she came,
Now has a home, and has a name.

9/21/2002

Note: Samantha only lived a year before

resporatory arrest took her in

August of 2003

Sunset

2006-07-17T11:44:00.000-07:00

Dinner was late tonight. We had one of those exceptionally beautiful sunsets. The kind you are unable to turn away from. The kind that draws you outdoors to gaze in awe at the changing colors.
I saw it forming as we drove home. Horizon to horizon, an unusual cloud formation of long, wide, parallel bands, separated by clear sky, stretching west to east with higher fluffy clouds visible between them. I knew we were in for something special.
As the sun dipped lower in the southwestern sky, the clouds began their transformation. Their western edges began to glow. Yellowish at first, than changing, almost unperceptively, to pink. They became luminescent as though each had it’s own inner light and as they turned to salmon, their glow became brilliant against a now intense peacock blue sky. Colors that seemed impossible. Colors that could never be captured on canvas or film.
The sun had slipped below the horizon. The salmon clouds lost some of their glow, drifting into a dusty rose that began to darken to slate grey. The sky turned darker, from peacock to a darker shade of blue. At the horizon, a slip of cream still glowed softly. The last of the sun’s hold on the day. Soon, it too darkened, to a shade of Navaho , and darker still as day surrendered to night. Rose now gone, the clouds are a deep slate against a dark blue sky steadily turning to black.
Night. So soon. Nature’s palette set aside. The clouds are again light against the sky. Pale ash grey, capturing the glow of city lights far below. The stars already appearing between the clouds. Bright specks , distant suns. Three planets also grace the sky tonight. Mars, Saturn, Jupiter. Orange, yellow., blue-white, making their westerly journey .
As I turn and go back indoors , I take one last quick look, trying to commit what I have experienced to memory, and I wonder.....How many others were captured by the wonder of tonight’s sunset? How many took the time to see the beauty that I witnessed tonight? The beauty of this small blue world.

2/01/02